HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



291 



als are also produced to a considerable extent. The 

 tropical fruits are abundant. 



Lombardy. kingdom of, began 573; made numerous 

 conquests till 1771, when Desiclerius, their last king, 

 was taken by Charlemagne and territories annexed to 

 the German empire. 



London, formerly called Augusta, founded by the 

 Romans, 49; walled and a palace built, 368; city re- 

 paired by Alfred, 885; burned to the ground, about 

 912 ; nearly destroyed by lire, 1077, and again in 1110 ; the 

 chief magistrate in the time of William I. was .called 

 port-reeve; Richard I. ordained two bailiffs, but King 

 John changed them to a mayor; obtained their first 

 free charter for electing their own magistrates, 1208 ; 

 gates of the city taken down, 1760; the common council 

 ordered to wear blue silk gowns at court, September 16, 

 1761; practice discontinued, 1775; London bridge built 

 about 1098. The largest and richest city in the world. 



Louisburg, taken by the French, July 27, 1758. 



L,ycurgus, established his laws at Lacedaemon, B. O. 

 884 ; his institutions renounced by the Spartans, 188. 



Malirattas, The, are a native Indian race which 

 founded an empire in Central and Western India, 1674. 

 After 1795, Scindia, Holkar, and Berar became inde- 

 . pendent ; the confederacy of Mahratta states came to 

 an end in 1818, and all the chiefs became dependants of 

 the British Crown. 



Massachusetts, first settled by the English at Ply- 

 mouth in 1620. Ranks first in cotton, woolen, arid 

 worsted goods, cod and mackerelfishing ; second in com- 

 merce; third in manufactories, printing, and publish- 

 ing; fourth in silk goods; fifth in soap and in wealth, 

 sixth in iron and steel; ninth in agricultural imple- 

 ments. Its manufactured articles include leather and 

 morocco, flour and meal, lumber and furniture, refined 

 molasses and sugar, machinery, ship building, animal 

 and vegetable oils. Manufacturing and commerce chiefly 

 engage the attention of its inhabitants. The middle and 

 western parts are fertile. Farms are highly cultivated. 



Madagascar, first seen by the Portuguese, 1506; at- 

 tempts at colonization were made by the English and 

 French from 1644 to 1773. The island is at present under 

 a native ruler, though tributary to France. 



Madeira Islands, discovered by the Portuguese, 1419. 



Madrid, built B. C. 936; occupies the site of the an- 

 cient Mantua-Carpepanorum, called Majoritium in the 

 Middle Ages. Its importance commenced in 15C3, when 

 it was made the capital of Spain by Philip II. It was 

 held by the French from 1808 to 1812, and here Napoleon 

 placed his brother Joseph on the throne of Spain. 



Marriage, first institution of, by ceremony, ascribed 

 to Cecrops, king of Athens, B. C. 1556; celebration in 

 churches first ordained by Pope Innocent III. about 

 1200, before which the only ceremony was that of a man 

 leading his bride home to his house; marriage in Lent 

 forbidden by the Church, 364; forbidden to priests, 

 1015 ; publication of bans instituted about 1210. 



Maryland, first settled by the English, 1634, at St. 

 Mary's. The chief industries are agriculture and man- 

 ufacturing. Corn, wheat, and tobacco are the leading 

 agricultural products. Coal is mined extensively. 

 Among other commercial products are flour and meal, 

 smelted copper, refined sugar and molasses, cotton 

 goods, lumber and furniture, malt and distilled liquors, 

 tobacco and cigars, oysters, fish, and vegetables, leather 

 goods, clothing, printing and publishing. The foreign 

 commerce of the state is carried on chiefly through the 

 city of Baltimore, which has all the advantages of a 

 seaport. The chief exports are tobacco, flour, canned 

 fruits, and oysters. . 



Maine (Pine Tree State). Settled by French at Bris- 

 tol, 1625; admitted to the Union, 1820. Ranks fifth in 

 buckwheat and copper; eighth in hops and potatoes; 

 eleventh in hay ; twenty-first in wealth ; twenty-seventh 

 in population ; thirty-third in miles of railway ; thirty- 

 sixth in square miles. Industries : Extensive lumber 

 and ship-building trade, fisheries, cotton, woolens, 

 tanned and curried leather, boots and shoes, lime, etc. 

 TMe agricultural portion of the state lies in the valley 

 of St. John, and between the Penobscot and Kennebec 

 rivers. 



Magna Charta, The, was the great charter or docu- 

 ment, founded mainly upon earlier Saxon charters, 

 which the English barons compelled King John to sign 

 at Runnymede (June 15, 1215). The most important pro- 

 visions are : (1) No scutage or aid shall be raised, 

 except in the case of the king's captivity, the knighting 

 of his eldest son, or the marriage of his eldest daughter", 

 except by the general council of the kingdom ; (2) no 



freeman shall be imprisoned or disseised, outlawed, or 

 proceeded against otner than by the legal judgment of 

 his peer, or by the law of the land ; (3) that right or jus- 

 tice shall not oe sold, delayed, or denied to any ; (4) that 

 the civil court shall be stationary, and not follow the 

 king's person. Other provisions were directed against 

 the abuse of the power of the king as lord paramount, 

 the tyranny of the forest laws, and grievances connected 

 with feudal tenure. The Charter of Forests was granted 

 at the same time. Both documents have been confirmed 

 by Act of Parliament thirty-two times. 



Manitoba was first settled by the French in 1731, and 

 English traders first made their appearance in 1767. It 

 is a wheat- growing country, and furs are also a leading 

 product. All kinds of garden vegetables, as well as oats, 

 barley, Indian corn, hops, flax, hemp, potatoes, and 

 other root crops are easily raised. The grassy savannas 

 of the Red River afford abundant pasturage. The 

 climate is very severe in winter, but occasionally hot in 

 summer. Winnipeg is the capital. 



Massacres at Alexandria of many thousand citizens 

 by order of Antoninus. 213; of Thessalonica, when up- 

 wards of 7,000 persons were put to the sword by order of 

 Theodosius, 390 ; of 35,000 persons at Constantinople, 532 ; 

 of the Jews, 1189; of the Huguenots at Paris, by order 

 of Charles IX., when 70,000 where destroyed, June 12, 

 1418; of the Swedish nobility at a feast, by order of 

 Christian II., 1520; at Paris, when the king led the way 

 and nearly 10,000 Protestants were slain, 1572; of the 

 Christians in Croatia by the Turks, when 65,000 were 

 slain, 1592; of the English factory by the Dutch at Am- 

 boyna, 1623, in order to dispossess them of the Spice 

 Islands; of the Irish at the Island of Magee, when 

 40,000 English Protestants were killed, 1641; of the 

 whites in San Domingo by the negroes, 1803 and 1804; of 

 the Greeks at Scio, 1823. 



a constitution was proclaimed in 1812, and in May, 1822, 

 Don Augustin Iturbide was elected emperor of Mexico ; 

 he abdicated in 1823; became a federal republic in 1824; 

 in 1863, a French army invaded Mexico and occupied 

 the capital. Under the patronage of Napoleon the III., 

 Maximilian of Austria became emperor of Mexico from 

 1864 till 1867, when he was shot and a republic re- 

 proclaimed. 



Minnesota (Gopher State). First settlement, by 

 Americans, Red River, 1812. Admitted to the Union, 

 1858. Ranks fourth in wheat and barley ; eighth in oats 

 and hay; twelfth in miles of railway; thirteenth in 

 square miles; seventeenth in wealth; twenty-sixth in 

 population. The leading industries are: 1. Agricul- 

 ture; the staple productions being corn, wheat, and 

 oats, while other cereals are largely raised. 2. Lumber- 

 ing; great quantities of lumber are sawed in this state, 

 and immense rafts of logs are floated down the Missis- 

 sippi, to be sawed in other states. 3. Manufacturing; 

 the principal articles being sawed lumber and flour. 



Missouri (Pennsylvania of the West). First settle- 

 ment, by the French, at St. Genevieve, 1764. Admitted 

 to the Union, 1821. Ranks first in mules ; third in oxen, 

 hogs, corn, and copper; fifth in population; sixth in 

 iron ore, wool, milch cows, and horses ; seventh in oats ; 

 eighth in wealth, wheat, and tobacco ; ninth in sheep 

 and potatoes; tenth in miles of railway; sixteenth in 

 square miles. Agriculture is the leading occupation. 

 Mining is extensively carried on in the section south of 

 St. Louis. The iron resources of the state exceed those 

 of any other. The manufacturing interests are large 

 and increasing. The chief agricultural products are 

 great crops of corn, wheat, rye, tobacco, hemp, and 

 grapes. 



Mississippi. First settlement made by the French at 

 Natchez, 1716. This state ranks second in cotton ; fifth 

 in rice; fifth in mules and molasses; seventh in sugar. 

 It is almost exclusively an agricultural state. Great 

 quantities of rice, corn, sugar, and sweet potatoes are 

 produced. Many tropical fruits grow in abundance. 

 The labor is largely performed by negroes. Horses, 

 mules, swine, and cattle, are extensively raised. 



Microscopes. First used in Germany, 1621 ; with two 

 glasses, invented by Drebbel, 1624 ; solar, invented by 

 Lieberkuk, 1470. 



Milan, anciently Liguria, the seat of the Roman em- 

 pire, 303; conquered by the Goths in the fifth century, 

 who were dispossessed by the Lombards, 572 ; subdued 

 by the Emperor Charlemagne, 800; the French expelled 

 about 1525; taken by the Imperialists, 1706: recovered 

 by France and Spain, 1743 ; restored to Austria, 1748 ; in 



